Arthur Hayes Predicts Ethereum (ETH) at $10,000 by Year-End

Hayes Sets $10,000 Year-End Target for ETH

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has set a $10,000 year-end price target on Ethereum (ETH), a level that would more than triple the asset's spot price of roughly $2,672 at the time of writing. Hayes shared the forecast during Korea Blockchain Week and reaffirmed his optimistic outlook on the network's future in a subsequent interview, though the remarks we reviewed did not include a detailed valuation model behind the round figure. Hayes, who co-founded the crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, remains one of the sector's most closely watched commentators, and his cycle calls frequently move sentiment even when they divide the market. The bullish call landed while institutional positioning cooled. After seven consecutive sessions of net inflows, spot Ethereum ETFs recorded a combined net outflow of $2.8 million on September 29, flow records show. Spot ETFs hold Ether directly, and their daily creations and redemptions are widely read as a real-time gauge of institutional demand. The day split in two directions: Grayscale's Ethereum (ETH) fund took in $12.8 million in net inflows, while BlackRock's ETHA saw $8.9 million leave and Fidelity's FETH lost $6.7 million. Grayscale's intake was not enough to offset the combined exits from the two largest issuers' funds, leaving the complex with a modest negative print for the session. On-chain activity added its own data point: Arkham-tracked records show a newly created address withdrew 5,731.90 ETH, worth roughly $15.31 million, from Coinbase Prime. The full balance remained sitting in the wallet at the time of reporting, with no onward transfer recorded — a pattern that reads as custody repositioning rather than distribution toward exchanges. Desks typically flag withdrawals of this size as potential supply overhang until a destination emerges.

Aztec Restarts zk.money With $2,500 Cap

Aztec Labs has brought zk.money back online, restarting the privacy wallet roughly three years after the previous version was wound down in 2024, as detailed in our earlier zk.money relaunch coverage. The self-custody product, which leaves users in control of their own private keys, lets holders move stablecoins bridged from Ethereum (ETH) into the Aztec Network — a Layer 2 built for private execution — and send payments without exposing the recipient, the amount or the user's balance to public view. Deposits are accepted in DAI, USDC or USDT, although USDC and USDT are converted into DAI at entry, and every payment inside zk.money settles in DAI. Instead of pasting long hexadecimal addresses, senders can pay readable usernames or share payment links — a UX shift similar to ENS domain names. The alpha release is deliberately small in scope. Each deposit, payment and withdrawal is held below $2,500, and a shared $50,000 daily deposit ceiling applies across all users — limits the team says it will raise as the system matures and trust builds. The wallet charges $0.35 per deposit and $0.20 per withdrawal on top of Ethereum gas fees, grants each user 100 sponsored transactions per day, and screens depositing and withdrawing addresses against sanctions lists. Privacy also has a defined boundary: the initial deposit from an Ethereum address is not private, since the source wallet and the deposited amount stay visible on the public chain until the asset enters the Aztec Network. The risk disclosures are unusually direct. Aztec's own documentation states the software is not fully audited and may contain critical vulnerabilities; a critical bug was found in the network's V5 proof system in August, with the fix scheduled for the V6 release — and zk.money is going live before that fix ships. The prior version served more than 75,000 wallets and processed over $100 million in volume before it closed, giving the relaunch an established user base to win back.

Flows Versus Conviction Into Year-End

The macro backdrop has thickened since Hayes' call. CoinGecko data placed ETH near $2,680 in Wednesday trading, and Ethereum futures open interest stood around $33.63 billion as traders trimmed leverage ahead of U.S. data. Elevated Treasury yields are weighing on risk assets: the 10-year yield touched 5.293% on Tuesday, its highest since 2007, while the 30-year hit levels unseen since 2002. New York Fed President John Williams said Tuesday there was "no need for urgency" on further tightening, trimming October hike odds to roughly 47% and December odds to about 91%. August PCE inflation was scheduled for Sept. 30 and the September jobs report for Oct. 2, with U.S.-Iran tensions over the Strait of Hormuz adding a further geopolitical overhang.

The flow picture looks firmer on a multi-session view. PrimeXBT's market data shows U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs logged $287.5 million in net inflows across the five trading sessions ending September 29, a stretch that includes roughly $87 million on September 25 alone, and that the funds' combined holdings had climbed to about 5.91 million ETH, valued near $24.17 billion. The same data places $2,800 as the level to beat after a brief break above it failed to hold, with a sustained push opening a path toward the $3,000 to $3,050 range. On the downside, losing the $2,600 zone is flagged as the trigger that could amplify selling pressure if broader risk appetite weakens.

Institutional adoption of the Ethereum mainnet got a fresh push at Korea Blockchain Week's sidelines, where ETHGas founder and CEO Kevin Lepsoe, a former derivatives structurer at Morgan Stanley and Barclays, publicly proposed that Korean financial institutions begin their on-chain rollout with stablecoin payments rather than a full system redesign. Lepsoe argued fiat-pegged stablecoins are the most efficient first step because transaction times and costs are easy to measure, with expansion into tokenized real-world asset infrastructure to follow. His company sells future blockspace to institutions at pre-agreed prices, hedging validators against gas-fee volatility; customer asset control stays entirely with the institutions, and compliance obligations remain theirs. ETHGas plans to spend the next six months upgrading its blockspace market, processing speeds and institutional connectivity.

H Hayes has since widened the call itself. Speaking in a keynote at Block Festa 2026 in Seoul on October 1, the FloLabs CEO said Ethereum could reach $10,000 to $20,000 this cycle, with $5,000 as the nearer-term marker, while stressing the figures are his personal view on assets he holds, not official targets. His liquidity thesis leans on Fed tightening: each 0.25% rate hike frees roughly $25 billion as interest flows to banks and the wealthy, and he pointed to Bitcoin's roughly 10% rise after the Fed's September 16 hike as evidence. He also said commercial banks created over $200 billion after the Fed halted reserve-management Treasury purchases on August 14, argued widespread dislike of Ethereum is itself a buying setup, and floated personal upside views of $1 for Ethena (ENA, now about $0.25) and $20 for Uniswap (UNI, now about $8).

(as of 10:35 UTC) COINOTAG's reading: the two stories trace one arc — conviction is rebuilding across the Ethereum ecosystem faster than flows are confirming it. On-chain ETF flow records are the cleanest primary check here, and they currently show hesitation: a $2.8 million net outflow ended a seven-day streak the same week one of crypto's loudest voices called for a near-triple. Treasury demand offers a second, slower confirmation channel, as tracked in Bitmine's ETH treasury milestone. Two markers matter into year-end: whether ETF creations resume, and whether zk.money's capped volumes grow enough for Aztec to lift the $2,500 and $50,000 limits.